Student Essays / Computer Science, Master Programme

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This thesis investigates the assumed affordance of haptic technology in a wearable context. This work position itself within the internet of things where wearable and connected objects have established themselves as a sub-domain in the area. Some argued that haptic technologies provide certain benefits when creating interfaces for wearable technologies. However, their seams to be a lack of studies investigating the natural responses to haptic technology from a user perspective. To investigate the assumed benefits of haptic technology, we have developed a prototype of a wearable haptic system. This system consists of two jacket were each jacket contains 16 touch sensitive sensor and haptic actuators. All interactions with the sensor of one jacket are mirrored with a haptic feedback in the other jacket. The purpose of this system is to investigate the initial responses and accord of haptic technology by users. The reason for doing this is to develop guidelines for further investigation into haptic technology as a means for creating wearable objects with a non-screen based interfaces.
The study concludes there to be some merit to the use of rhythm for creating haptic interaction patterns as well as haptic technology affording a simple and natural dialog in human computer interaction. Further, we also conclude that there is some merit to haptic affording faster learning curves in novel non-screen based interaction and are suitable for providing clear feedback. This study also shows limitations for haptic technology. Haptics seem less proficient for interfaces existing in a system as well as handling errors. This study also proved problematic because of the lack in clearly defined methods for investigating novel non-screen based interfaces.
In chapter two of this thesis we first present a theoretical overview of wearable’s generally and how haptic technology position itself within wearable technology. In chapter three, we move on by introducing our methods of research. Based on our theory we then frame the technological outline of the project and practical implementation. We follow this by presenting the results in chapter five from our user testing conducted with the prototype. We end our thesis with a discussion in chapter six with presenting the principal findings together with our discussion and future developments in chapter seven.

Various initiatives are carried out towards developing Smart cities that aim to make cities more sustainable. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a key aspect, where sensors are integrated in various „things‟, creating devices that are aware of, and respond to their environment. Bus shelters are among the facilities that are highly used by people in the city while commuting. Despite this high usage, they have remained the same technologically over the years. However, with new IoT technologies, bus shelters have the potential to be improved, providing a better experience to commuters, as well as creating value for businesses and public transport providers.
This paper proposes a novel method that integrates IoT in bus shelters, enhancing the way information is displayed to the public through display screens. The information in focus involves digital signage advertising, public announcements or other information concerning the happenings nearby. The location and the time that the information is displayed are key factors considered, to effectively communicate the relevant information to the target audience. Furthermore, through the use of sensors, data analytics can be generated that describe the commuter traffic flow, thus providing useful information for public transport providers.
Various use case scenarios are considered whereby smart bus shelters can be useful and a small scale prototype is developed to illustrate a proof of concept for the proposed solution. From the prototype, we demonstrate dynamic advertising through social media and show the potential of machine learning in predicting commuter flow from sensor data. We evaluate our work using questionnaires for the business and commuters, in order to find out the value created through implementing such a system. Additionally, we conduct functional testing of the prototype to evaluate its functionality. Other benefits are considered, such as reducing energy consumption by appliances such as lights, screens and smart heating systems for bus shelters.
With our work, we hope to inspire further research into more suitable and innovative ways, in which bus shelters can be technologically enhanced. Furthermore, we believe that enhancements in bus shelters to provide a better experience for commuters while waiting for the bus, is a factor that could encourage more use of public transportation, providing value to public transport providers and local municipalities.

The goal of this study is to identify the current application areas and some possible application areas for blockchain; blockchain is a distributed database that is currently most known for being the technology used for storing transaction information of digital currencies such as the Bitcoin. Through a literature review and interviews with domain experts, we identified some current application areas for blockchain, that is, money transactions, decentralized data and privacy protection, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO). Within the area of decentralized data and privacy protection, we further identified the two sub-areas of smart contracts and secure identities. In addition, we identified some possible application areas by conducting a second literature review. Some of these application areas are: storing mind files and human intelligence, on-line voting, supply chain management, stock trading, Internet of Things (IoT), and banking. The contribution of this study can be used for further studies through each of the above application areas in order to identify possible advantages and disadvantages.

Automotive transport unavoidably raises safety concerns for drivers, passengers, and indeed, all road users alike. Advancements in vehicle safety technologies have come a long way, and have had a major impact on the reduction of road-related accidents and fatalities. However, as the push towards autonomous vehicle systems gains momentum, assumptions must be avoided about the global application of such technologies.
This paper proposes an idea for a road safety alert system, which is realized in the form of small-scale prototype, subsequently tested and evaluated to study its theoretical application to real world scenarios. The system is geared towards developing regions of the world where a reduction in road-related accidents and death is needed most. Reviews of various existing and proposed safety systems within the realm of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are conducted, with a focus on Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and non-V2V applications, which are compared to and contrasted with our proposal.
We hope to foster further discussion and research into suitable technologies and their application, in regions of the world that require a different approach when trying to realistically reduce the consistent destructive trend of accidents and fatalities when humans are still behind the wheel.

Mobile apps have emerged ever since the smartphone has been established
into most peoples everyday life. Almost half of those available apps in the app
stores are mobile games. We study game design patterns speci cally for endless
mobile minigames, as they are one of the emerging categories. This genre has
become popular in the app stores with its unique characteristics which include very
short play session iterations and its minimalist design. Game design patterns are
focused on the interaction with the player and provide knowledge and experience
with regards to games in general. Not only are they bene cial for game designers,
but also for developers, practitioners and possibly researchers, as patterns provide
a common terminology to share information between di erent professions.
We conduct a case study including ve example games and analyze endless
mobile games to identify and create genre speci c game design patterns. We search
for commonalities and major aspects of endless mobile minigames to facilitate the
production of such games for developers. To con rm our results, we implement
a prototype of an endless mobile minigame, which is then evaluated through a
survey.
The result is a collection of game design patterns based on our cases. The
questionnaire reveals which of those patterns are relevant and should be considered
when developing an endless mobile game. The result outlines that game design
patterns are considered supportive when designing a game, however requires ad-
justments and revisions.